/newsroom/taxonomy/term/2766/all en /newsroom/channels/news/global-ocean-out-balance-334733 <p>Surprising as it sounds, all life forms in the ocean, from small krill to large tuna, seem to obey a simple mathematical law that links an organism’s abundance to its body size. For example, although small krill are individually only about one millionth of the weight of a large tuna, they also tend to be a million times more numerous throughout the oceans. The idea, known as the Sheldon size spectrum theory, was first advanced in the 1970s, but has never been tested for a wide range of marine species and on a global scale until now.</p> Wed, 10 Nov 2021 20:46:52 +0000 katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca 283616 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/alterations-seabed-raise-fears-future-291163 <p>The ocean floor as we know it is dissolving rapidly as a result of human activity.</p> Mon, 29 Oct 2018 15:48:34 +0000 priya.pajel@mail.mcgill.ca 96290 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/making-antarctica-265483 <p>One of the big mysteries in the scientific world is how the ice sheets of Antarctica formed so rapidly about 34 million years ago, at the boundary between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs.</p> <p>There are 2 competing theories:</p> <p>The first explanation is based on <strong>global climate change</strong>: Scientists have shown that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels declined steadily since the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, 66 million years ago. Once CO2 dropped below a critical threshold, cooler global temperatures allowed the ice sheets of Antarctica to form.</p> Tue, 31 Jan 2017 18:20:06 +0000 priya.pajel@mail.mcgill.ca 26665 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/microplastic-pollution-discovered-st-lawrence-river-239101 <p>A team of researchers from McGill University and the Quebec government have discovered microplastics (in the form of polyethylene 'microbeads,' less than 2 mm in diameter) widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments. Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:23:09 +0000 cynthia.lee@mcgill.ca 21154 at /newsroom